Free will

Human beings are pack animals by nature, like dogs, wolfs and chimpanzees. We are biologically constructed and historically conditioned to live in groups. Every pack has a leader who dominates and leads the other members. All the other members of the pack form a hierarchy where everyone has a place. Whenever we form a group, this pattern is repeated and it creates endless problems to us modern human beings.

We will go to war and do the most terrible things, we will work like donkeys for endless hours, all our life, we will do anything our leaders tell us to do. We will believe whatever they tell us to believe. It is all very sad.

And if we don't have a pack to belong to, we feel lonely, miserable and expelled. Therefore, when we find a pack, we will do whatever it takes to fit in.

We desperately need someone who can tell us how to think, how to believe, what to say, which clothes to wear. We will follow our leaders even if they lead us to hell. We need someone who can point out the way for us.

Religions, religious cults, motorcycle gangs, political movements, work places, gurus and their followers, sports teams, hippie communities, school classes, any group of people, will organize themselves according to the pack principles. We are created this way.

However, Human beings are not only driven by biological urges and social conditionings. There are more variables to the equation. For example, we do not have to use the automatic mode constantly. To be aware and present in the now is to step out from automatic biological and psychological patterns.

It is possible to pay more attention to what is going on, within us and around us. It is very difficult to be present when we are interacting with other people, but it is possible, I think, to bring in glimpses of attention, awareness and presence. It is possible to switch to manual mode, at least for short moments.

Habits

Our habits keep us in captivity,
eating habits, drinking habits, thinking habits…
They are like prison wardens.

Awakening is a word

If you have been drinking, smoking and rambling for decades you will one day find yourself saying to yourself in the mirror, "I have to do something. I have to change. There must be something more to life than this."

The same thing can happen to you if you for many years have lived a decent, normal life based on self-deception. Suddenly one day you say to yourself, `I feel like a zombie. I feel like a sleepwalker. Is this all there is to life? I can't stand another talk show. There must be something more to life than TV shows. And I can’t stand another dinner party, “Can you pass me the gravy please, it’s wonderful, isn’t it?” I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t live like this.´

Sometimes the death of someone near to you shakes you awake, sometimes a life threatening disease. Sometimes a divorce has the same effect. `Oh my God, she’s sleeping with someone else. I die. I have to kill myself.´

Sometimes awakening comes unexpectedly, like a bolt from a clear blue sky, sometimes it is a slow process.

All people wake up in life, for different reasons, and then they go back sleep again. It is like smokers who give up smoking. Three months later they are smoking again.

However, some people give up smoking for good. They are done with smoking.

Some people wake up for good.

 

Workmates

Abstract nouns

I know exactly what you mean when you talk about apples or bananas. However, when you talk about God, love or consciousness I can never be sure what you have in mind. Abstract nouns have different meanings to different people. So when we discuss consciousness, for example, maybe we are not talking about the same thing. Maybe it is like if you talk about lavender in southern France and I talk about cherry trees in Scandinavia.

What is consciousness?

The word consciousness is used in many different ways.
One definition is, "the part of us which is not unconscious",
the part of us which wakes up in the morning
like if the light is switched on.

Animals have consciousness but no language.
They don't have a word for consciousness.
They don't have any words for anything.

Can consciousness exist without a body and a brain?
What is it made of?
Electro chemical reactions?
Is it made of spirit?
What is it good for? Why did it evolve?
Did it evolve?
Was it created trough a Darwinian evolutionary process,
like the eyes and the ears
or did it exist before life here on earth?
Is it a side effect?

Anesthetics can make you unconscious in a second.
Another chemical can wake you up again.

I believe that my consciousness will disappear forever when I die.
It seems logical to me. I mean, I disappear every night.
Spiritual people say that I am not awakened yet.
Our beliefs separate us, like left-wingers and right-wingers
are separated by opinions.

Consciousness is a very mysterious flame, as I see it.
Isn’t it amazing to be alive and conscious?
What difference does it make to your life
if it is a material or a spiritual process
which brings the consciousness about?